Over the years I’ve made lots of easy DIY Halloween pumpkins for my son. The theme has always reflected his interests. There was baseball, Nerf, AZ Cardinals football, Fornite, and Among Us. Now the kid is 18 and off at college. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop crafting.
A college spirit-themed pumpkin is perfect for a college student. Also would be fun for alumni to put out on football game days. Since my son is in a dorm this year keeping small and simple is perfect because space is limited. Keeping is small and light (fake pumpkins are much lighter than real) would make it easy to shop if your college student is attending a university farther from home. My son is about 30 minutes away so I will drop it off when I drop off my Halloween Care Package.
College Spirit Easy DIY Pumpkin
First, you need a pumpkin. We use Craft pumpkins so that we can use our designs year to year. They’re also lightweight, which is important if you will be shipping your pumpkin to your college student. A pumpkin that’s sized 6.5″ to 10″ is a great size for a dorm room.
You will need to decide on a color to paint the pumpkin. For paint color select one of the school colors or you can go with black or white (many schools use black or white as an accent color in the branding). For my pumpkin for Arizona State University, the school colors are maroon and gold and I decided to paint the pumpkin the gold color. Black is often an accent color in the school branding so I decided to use black that for the pumpkin’s stem.
The design is simple. All schools have school colors, most have 2 and sometimes a 3rd accent color. For the design, you can use the mascot or the University letter abbreviation. Depending on your artistic skills you can paint the logo or school name, use a vinyl cutting machine such as a Cricut, or the simplest way, use a school decal. I had the choice between using ASU’s Sparky or the ASU pitchfork and decided to use Sparky. You want to add a bow to the top that coordinates. And that’s all there is to it.
school spirit Pumpkin DIy materials
- craft pumpkin ( 9″ Craft pumpkin )
- acrylic craft paint ( Martha Stewart Satin Pollen, discontinued, Apple Barrel Black)
- paint brushes ( foam brushes )
- 2.5′ – 3 ” wire-edged ribbon ( 2.5″ maroon wired-edged ribbon )
- college decals ( Arizona State University decals ) or vinyl cutter ( Cricut )
- Mod Podge or other sealant (Satin Mod Podge Sealer)
- hot glue gun (full-sized glue gun )
- hot glue ( full-size hot glue sticks )
- craft wire ( floral wire )
School Spirit PUMPKIN DIY Instructions
- Paint the pumpkin. If starting with a dark color and painting with a lighter color, you may need to first add a primer coat. Repeat coats until you have a nice color coverage.
- Paint the pumpkin stem in one of the additional colors you are using in your design.
- Add your design using a decal, cut vinyl design, or freehand paint (if you have those skills).
- Paint or spray a sealant to protect the paint and design.
- Make a bow and hot glue to the pumpkin. My favorite way to make a bow is to cut a piece and make 2 loops of the bow, tie it in the center with craft wire. Then cut a small piece of ribbon and use that to make the ‘center knot’ and cover the wire, and attach the tied bow with hot glue. Make V cuts on the ribbon edges. Note: you can add the ribbon before the school logo, but if you will be adding a sealing coat to the pumpkin, the ribbon should be added as the last step.
